The Sustainable Utilization of Water Resources for a Bioproductive
Environment and the Role of Agro-Environmental Education in Korea

Seung Woo Park1
Seoul National University
Seoul, Korea

SUMMARY
The sustainable utilization of the water resources has become an important national
agendum in Korea. The great temporal and spatial variations of precipitation and stream
flow cause frequent water shortage and floods. The water quality of rivers and lakes
has been degraded significantly despite of the continuing investment for water quality
improvement. Rapidly increasing water use has placed serious problems to reliable
water supply, since the one-third of stream flow is now diverted for agricultural,
domestic, and industrial uses. A national survey reported that 1.8 million m3 of water
will be short to meet the demands by 2011. Additional water resources have to be
developed and the water demand controls and efficient water use need to be more
extensively exercised. The basin-wide integrated flood controls are also important tothe sustainable development. The concept of sustainability has been incorporated tothe on-going efforts to the water related issues and policies.
Presently the two-third of paddy fields has been provided with the water from
irrigation systems. Korean government has placed a high priority on the sustainable
water use for paddy irrigation. The concept of ‘sustainable development’ has beenreflected to many on-going national projects such as the reinforcement of existing
irrigation dams, transboundary water use, automatic water management,
telemetering/telecontrol systems, and water quality improvement projects. Drainage
improvement projects for agricultural lands are also implemented to mitigate flood
damages in paddy fields. The sustainable agriculture promotion act has given effects
1

S. W. Park, Professor, Department of Rural Systems Engineering, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul
National University, Seoul, Korea. Email:swpark@snu.ac.kr

1

to improving water quality of paddy fields as well as to preserving the agricultural
ecosystems.
This paper presents the overview of geography and agriculture, water resources, andwater use for agricultural production in Korea. National agenda which concern thesustainable water use are presented. The on-going efforts for the sustainable use of
agricultural water resources are introduced. A review on case studies of the integrated
water management for more efficient water use and of an irrigation reservoir water
quality improvement project is given. Results from the wastewater reuse for irrigation
are also presented which may help restore the natural hydrologic cycle by reducing theover-exploitation of water from rivers. It is followed by the roles of agroenvironmental education, which include the capacity building for interdisciplinary
aspects of the sustainable water utilization in harmony with natural ecosystems. The
importance of accredited curricula development is stressed for the future agroenvironment education. The interdisciplinary research and development needs to be
explored for the sustainable water use in agricultural production.

INTRODUCTION
The Republic of Korea (Korea) like many other countries in the world has faced aserious challenge to sustainable water use. Here, the term ‘sustainable’ suggests anability to maintain activity in the face of stress or shock. WCED (1987) defined thesustainable development as the ability of humanity to ensure that it meets the needs ofthe present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own.
In the context, the water for agricultural production needs to be developed economicallyand utilized efficiently and in harmony with natural environment, but should not be
over-exploited to a degree affecting the future water supply.
The sustainable water use is particularly important to Korea. More than the onethird of the renewable water resources or the runoff from precipitation is now being
diverted for the agricultural, domestic, and industrial uses. Yet, the projected water
demands in 2011 is reported to be 37 billion m3, surpassing the existing water supply
capacity by 1.8 billion m3 (MOCT, 2000). Additional water resources need to be
explored without adversely affecting the natural ecosystems. The water should be
more efficiently used, water saving efforts should be promoted, and the water demands

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should be controlled. The water quality of rivers and lakes should also be preserved.
River environments need to be restored and conserved in harmony with natural
ecosystems.
Another important water issues are flood control. Flood damages during themonsoon season and typhoon passes are increased significantly in recent years (MOCT,2000). Flooding has been a real threat to the sustainable agricultural production. The
Korean government has worked on the integrated flood control in a basin scale, alongwith the continuing investments on drainage improvement projects for agricultural lands.
This paper presents an overview of the Korea environment, water resources, andagricultural water uses. Efforts and initiatives for the efficient and sustainable use ofwater for agricultural production are discussed. The paper also presents the overall
status of higher agricultural education and reviews the roles of agro-environmental
education and research efforts for the sustainable water use.

OVERVIEW OF GEOGAPHY AND AGRICULTURE
Topography, Climate, and Weather
Korea is located in the southern Korean Peninsula and islands. It is about 400km
long and 300km wide, and lies between 33o and 37o north latitude and 124o and 132oeast longitude. The total area is 99,373 km2. About 70% of the land is mountainous
with the main concentrations to the northern and eastern areas. Along the southern andwestern coast, the mountains descend gradually toward broad coastal plains. Most of
the rivers flow from the north or east sides into the Yellow or South Seas.
Korea has a temperate climate with the four distinct seasons; spring, summer, autumn
and winter. The contrast between winter and summer is pronounced: Winter is bitterly
cold and is influenced primarily by the Siberian Air Mass, while summer is hot andhumid affected by the Maritime Pacific High. The annual average temperature varies
from 10 to 16 degrees Celsius except for mountainous regions. August is the hottest
month with the mean temperature between 23 and 27 degrees. January is the coldest
and the mean temperature ranges from -6 to 7 degrees.

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The average annual precipitation ranges from approximately 770 to 1,640 mm, withthe mean of 1,284mm. About two-third of the total precipitation (65%) is concentrated
in summer, while precipitation in winter is less than 10% of the total. The monsoon
front approaches the Korean Peninsula from the south in late June, moving gradually tothe north. The rainy season, Jangma in Korean, normally continues for a month tilllate July. Two or three (3.1 in average) typhoons pass over the territory from July toearly September usually with heavy rainfall (KOWACO, 2004).
Land Use, Population, and Agriculture
The arable land is 18.3 thousand km2 or 18.4 % of the total land, and consists of 11.5
thousand km2 of paddy fields (11.2%) and 7.21 thousand km2 of upland areas, orchards
and other uses (7.2%). It has been steadily decreased from 23 thousand km2 in 1970s
as flat lands have been turned to urban and industrial zones (MAF, 2002).
The total population of Korea is 48,422 thousands. The population density is 475
persons per km2. The population in farm households is 3.9 million persons orapproximately 8% of the total in 2004.
Rice is the staple food for Koreans and the most important sources of income forfarm households, up to 37 percent of the gross farm receipts. Other crops being grown
are soybeans, barley, and potato. Vegetables are also important cash crops for many
farm households.
The agricultural contributions to the national GDP is about 2.7% in 2003, when
forestry and fishery incomes are excluded. Average farm household income comes
more from off-farm activities (60.7%) than farm business, but is 76.2% of the income ofaverage urban households (MAF, 2004). The farm income is being threatened to befurther cut down as the amount of imported brown rice is to be increased.
WATER RESOURCES
Precipitation
The average annual precipitation is 1,283mm, 1.3 times more than the average of theworld of 973mm. The annual water resources from the precipitation per capita are only4

2,705 m3, or approximately one-eleventh of the world average of 33,975 m3. Figure 1
shows the yearly variations of the annual precipitation from 1905 to 1998 (MOCT,2000). It may be noticed that the annual precipitation varies significantly, and thevariability tends to increase in 1990s. The spatial variability of annual precipitation is
also significant in that the mid-eastern province, Kyungsangbuk-do has the mean
precipitation of approximately 1,000mm, while it is over 1,700mm in the Jeju Island.
Figure 1 Variations of annual precipitation
The monthly precipitation varies greatly as may be seen in Figure 2. It is less than
60mm from October to next March. From June to September, it is equal to or greaterthan 150 mm. The total rainfall during July and August is 530mm, or 41.4% of theannual precipitation.
Figure 2 Monthly mean precipitation
Great variations of yearly, regional and seasonal variations of precipitation present
serious problems and limitations in water resource management. In a year, droughtprevails and causes damages to farming at some regions from mid April to mid June,and a week later the government flood control task forces open their offices to be readyfor coming floods. Agriculture is a sector most vulnerable to and seriously affected bydrought and floods. Thus, water resource development and flood control efforts areimportant to sustainable agricultural production.
Runoff
The annual average runoff in Korea is 83.1 billion m3 or 57% of the annual
precipitation (MOCT, 2000). Since it varies with the amount of precipitation, therunoff also shows great fluctuations yearly and seasonally. The total number of
streams and rivers is 3,893 and the length is 30.2 thousand km. Among the seventeen
major river basins, the Han-gang (River) is the largest, having the drainage area of
25,954 km2 (including the basin areas in North Korea) and the length of the river is 470
km. It passes through Seoul and drains 18.87 million m3 of runoff to the Yellow Sea ina year,As affected by the dry and wet seasons, the Korean rivers have very high flow5variations: The coefficients of the river regime, or the ratios of the maximum discharge
to the minimum range from 300 to 400. The reasons for the unusual higher ratios
include six months of the dry season, heavy storms during the monsoon season andtyphoon passes, and the short and steep slopes of the river reaches. Suchcharacteristics of the rivers cause serious problems to river management for flood
control and water use.
Dams and Reservoirs
Dams and reservoirs function to stabilize stream flow downstream and to ensure thewater supply to planned users. The net water supply capacity of thirty-fivemultipurposed and other large dams is 14.7 billion m3 (MOCT, 2000) Typicalirrigation reservoirs and dams are small in the storage capacities; the total water supply
capacity of about 18,000 irrigation reservoirs is 1.6 billion m3.
The largest dam in Korea is the Soyanggang-dam, which is 123m high and 530m
long, and has the storage capacity of 2.9 billion m3. It is followed by the Chungju-dam,
whose storage capacity is 2.75 billion m3. The two dams are instrumental to reliable
water supply to the huge population of Seoul and the satellite cities.
In 1970s and 1980s, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) had
implemented the integrated agricultural development projects. A highlight of the
projects was to construct estuary dams to irrigate paddy fields in lower lands along thewest coast. Among the top ten largest rivers in Korea, the four rivers such as the
Yongsan-gang, Geum-gang, Ansung-chon, and Sapgyo-chon have been closed with thedikes, and the two rivers, the Mangyung-gang and the Donjin-gang are being closed by
the Saemangeum tidal reclamation project. The area of the six drainage basins is 23.5
thousand km2, or 23.7% of the total territory.
Groundwater
The groundwater resources potentials are estimated to be 32.4 billion m3 per year,
among which up to 13.3 billion m3 may be developed. The total number ofgroundwater wells is about 1.1 million, and 3.2 billion m3 (24 % of the usable
resources) is being used. It is well received that the present levels of groundwater
utilization may be the maximum quantity to be developed feasibly (MOCT, 2000).

6Water Quality
Other imminent limitations imposed on water resources development are due to water
quality degradation in rivers and streams. The water quality conditions of streams andrivers had been significantly degraded in 70s and 80s during the national economic
development. Wastewater treatment projects have been placed at a high priority andhave been implemented to some success. However, more efforts should be put torestore the water quality. Among 194 stream and river reaches which the Ministry ofEnvironment (MOE) has divided and placed the target water quality considering thewater use purposes, only 37% of the reaches showed acceptable water quality
conditions in 2002 (OPM, 2003). Recently, MOE has promoted the total maximum
daily load (TMDL) programs to major river basins. Under the programs, the targetedwater quality should be met by all measures including the allocation of point andnonpoint source pollution loads within a river basin. It seems that the national target to
improve water quality of rivers may not be easily achieved in the near future.
Water Demand and Supply
The annual water demand is estimated to be 33.1 billion m3 in 1998 as shown in
Table 1 (MOCT, 2000). The domestic water use is 7.3 billion m3 (22%), the industrial
use 2.9 billion m3 (9%), the agricultural use 15.8 billion m3 (48%), and the in-stream
demand 7.1 billion m3 (21%). The in-stream demand is the minimum required
statutory flow at a specific river reach which the River Act mandates to designate. The
total off-stream use (excluding in-stream demand) is 26 billion m3, and 60% of that isused for agriculture.

Table 1Year
Total water use
Agricultural
Domestic
Industrial
In-stream

Estimated water uses (in billion m3/year)
1965

1980

1990

1998

51.2 (100%) 153 (100)44.8 (88%) 102 (67)
2.3 (4 %)
19 (12)4.1 (8 %)
7 (5)25 (16)249 (100)
147 (59)
42 (17)24 (10)36 (14)331 (100)
158 (48)
73 (22)29 (9)
71 (21)7

Figure 3 shows a schematic of the annual balance between water demand and supply.
The annual water supply consists of 16.1 billion m3 (49%) from stream flow, 13.3
billion m3 (40%) from dams and reservoirs, and 3.7 billion m3 (11%) from groundwater(MOCT, 2000). It may be noted that the off-stream water uses consist of 35.6% of therenewable water resources, which is defined to be the water to be renewed regularly andrepetitively by rain or snow, or the difference between total precipitation andevaporation. The high rate of water use may present a great threat to the sustainable
water use without seriously damaging fragile natural environment and ecosystems.
Figure 3 Annual water supply and uses of 1998 (Numbers above are in billion m3)
Policies for Water Resources Management
The national policies towards better water resource management are based on threeprinciples: Improving the soundness and reliability in water use, building up social
infrastructures to cope with floods, and forming river environments to be harmonizedwith the nature (MOCT, 2000). The agenda for the sound and reliable water use
include: 1) Water demand management, 2) efficient water use and water quality
improvement, 3) new water resources development to ensure reliability of water supply,and 4) capacity building for drought mitigation.
The agenda for the flood control programs are: 1) Adopting basin-scaled integrated
flood management plans replacing traditional river maintenance plans; 2) reducing theflood hazards and flood damage potentials; 3) promoting sustainable flood control
projects; 4) reforming institutional structures and building up the capacities for better
flood controls. Lastly, the four subtopics for river environment improvement are: 1)
Promoting environmentally sound river maintenance projects; 2) implementing river
rehabilitation programs; 3) promoting and recovering water related culture; 4)
implementing projects for multi-use and multi-functionality of rivers.
Figure 4 A conceptual view of basin-scaled flood control
The above national agenda target the sustainable development of the Korean society
through achieving the sound water use and restoring the safe and friendly water
environments. They have been well reflected to the national plans for long-term water8

resources development, called ‘The Korea Water Vision 2020’, which consist of wateruse, flood control, and river environment programs (MOCT, 2000).

WATER USE FOR AGRICULTURE
Irrigation Development
Rice has long been the staple food for Korean. The crop has been grown by
supplemental irrigation for reliable crop production. Based on the discovery ofcarbonized rice and remains of paddy fields in many places, it was reported that rice
was eaten as early as in Bronze Age in the Korean Peninsula (MAF, 2004). Historical
records showed that rice was cultivated in the first Century (16 A.D). As early as 157
A.D, earthen embankments were constructed to divert water for irrigation (MAF and
KARICO, 2002). The excavated remains of the earthen embankment, Byukgol-ge(dike) were constructed in 330 A.D. The length was over 3,000 meters long and theirrigated area was over 10,000 hectares. Many historical records show that diversion
weirs, presumably in temporal structures, were built and used for paddy rice irrigation.
The oldest still existing embankment, the Eorip-ji (pond) was built in 504 A.D and isbeing used as an irrigation water resource. Tidal land reclamation was firstly done in
the 13th Century, which may reveal rice irrigation in a large scale was practiced.
Following the remarkable invents of rain and stream level gages by the great King
Sejong (1418-1450 A.D), historical records revealed that a ministry level officer was
appointed to administer irrigation projects and to inspect irrigation facilities atprovincial levels in the 15th Century. In 1729, the total number of earthen
embankments was 3,527. Other historical records of worth noting are in that a local
governor appealed a minister to discourage rice transplanting culture, reasoning that thepractices were vulnerable to drought damages when not enough water was available.
This document may suggest that rice transplantation was widely practiced in the 16th
Century.
Modern irrigation systems were initiated after the proclamation of Irrigation
Association Act in 1906. Reservoirs and weirs were built and used to supply irrigationwater. As of 1945, the irrigated paddy acreage was 335 thousand hectares.

9

Recent advancement in irrigation systems was initiated since 1960s. Groundwater
Development Corporation was founded in 1965 to develop deep wells for irrigation,
which was later merged to now Korea Agricultural and Rural Infrastructure Corporation(KARICO). KARICO is the main institution for agricultural water management.
National budget and international loans were invested to develop large scaled
agricultural development projects.
The total acreage of irrigated paddies reached the peak, 987.9 thousand ha in 1991,
and has been declined to 880 thousand ha (76.6% of paddy fields) by 2003. The
decreases in the irrigated paddy fields were due to the land conversions to urban andindustrial sectors. The total water use for agriculture was estimated to be 15.8 billion
m3, approximately 49% of the total water use. The acreage does not include somepaddy fields to be privately irrigated. When all acreage is added up, it is believed thatmost of paddy fields are being irrigated at least partially.
Figure 5 An irrigation reservoir
MAF has implemented the agricultural water resources development projects.
Targeting the irrigated paddy fields up to 82% of the total paddy fields, MAF has
prepared the 3rd Rural Water Development and Management Plan (2005~2014) (MAF,
2004). The upland consolidation projects have been also practiced, in which thegroundwater resources for upland crop and vegetable irrigation are developed. Manyvegetable growers have relied on private irrigation systems for their farming. It wasreported that at least 25% of upland farming was being equipped with irrigation systemsof some kinds.
Irrigation Facilities and Management Organizations
Table 2 shows the irrigation facilities and irrigated paddy areas (MAF and KARICO,
2001). Major irrigation water resources are reservoirs, pumping stations, and weirs.
Groundwater is used only for 54 thousand ha.

10Table 2. Paddy field areas by irrigation facilities and the reliability of drought
mitigation (MAF and KARICO, 2001)
Irrigation facilities

No. ofIrrigatedfacilities

areas (ha)Irrigated areas by frequency of drought (ha)Normalyear

3 years

5 years

7 years

Over 10years-Reservoirs

17,913516,783

127,038

74,84429,294

37,466248,141-Pumping stations

5,937

123,634

8,887

8,734

3,447

7,931

94,635drainage stations

119

30,045

959

37

211

8,879

19,959-Drainage stations

490

1,189

340

381

302

-

167

-Weirs

18,350102,499

30,39322,433

7,207

6,749

35,717-Groundwater wells

21,73454,441

9,728

13,341

8,830

1,187

21,355-51,85348,039

1,687

804

230

1,093

64,543

880,444

225,383

121,457

50,09562,442421,067-Pumping-Other facilities
Total

&

A major reform in irrigation water management frameworks was implemented in
2000, when KARICO was founded to be a primary institute to manage larger irrigation
systems. Farmland Improvement Associations (FLIA) used to be in charge of theoperations and management of local irrigation facilities before. Three agencies
including FLIA and their Federation, and the Agricultural Development Corporation
were merged to establish KARICO. KARICO is responsible for the operation andmanagement (O&M) of 12,295 irrigation facilities, covering 520 thousand ha (59% of
irrigated paddy fields). The remaining small facilities of 52,248 are operated by thewater associations under the auspice of local governments.
KARICO is supported with the budget fully by the government for the O&M of theirrigation facilities. Water fees from farmers at KARICO irrigation districts have been
waived. Yet, farmers of local water associations have to pay the O&M costs. The
controversial institutional structures have been being debated, and no resolutions havebeen foreseen in the near future.
Over 15 thousand irrigation facilities were more than 60 years old, and many of them
do not function well enough to supply water to irrigated areas during a long drought
span. 48% of the irrigated paddy fields are estimated to be supplied water from11

irrigation water resources for a drought of the return period of 10 years (Table 2).
More than half of the acreage is vulnerable to drought. The lack of the reliability is
one of the major issues concerning irrigation systems in Korea.
Irrigation Water Quality
The overall water quality of irrigation reservoirs appears to be alright to meet thenational water quality standard class IV of 8 mg/L of chemical oxygen demand (COD).
Less than 0.4~0.6% of total irrigation reservoirs fails to meet the standard (MAF, 2004).
Some polluted stream flow is being diverted to paddy fields. Untreated orinappropriately treated animal wastes in upstream areas are a major source of pollutants
to those streams. The eutrophication of estuary dams is also a major concern. Unlike
upstream waters, the water quality improvement for the estuary dams is a real challenge
and hard to achieve without substantial investment for basin wide water quality
improvement efforts.
Irrigation Efficiency
It has been recognized that the efficiency of paddy irrigation is very low. The
efficiency depends on many factors such as irrigation facilities, types of canals,
scheduling, and on-farm water management. Theoretically, the efficiency increases
when the water supply is equal to the demand or on-farm requirements at individual
fields over entire irrigated area. Delivery efficiency is reported to be about 75 to 95 %depending on canal types. Field efficiency, which is defined to be the ratio of thewater use on farm to the diverted water, varies with water management on a farm. A
recent survey by the author showed that about 20% of irrigated water drained to stream(Im et al., 2000). Nearly 20% of irrigated water returned to stream in a form ofgroundwater releases. This may suggest the overall irrigation efficiency to be less thanapproximately 50%. The uniformity of water supply to irrigation district was also low:
Upstream zones enjoyed more than enough water supply while lower zones were
irrigated with secondary water diversion structures. Efforts are being made to convert
open canal systems to pipeline systems, which may significantly improve the overall
irrigation efficiencies as compared to the conventional.
Flood Control for Agricultural Lands

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Flood controls for farmlands are one of major projects which MAF places a highpriority on. A recent national survey showed that 235 thousand ha of low lands needdrainage facilities for flood control and improving farming operations. 36% of thetarget areas have been completed as of 2000. Over 83 thousand ha remains to be theflood prone paddy fields.
SUSTAINABLE UTILIZATION OF IRRIGATION WATER
National Policies
The national policies concerned with the sustainable water use for agriculture may be
categorized to the three (MAF, 2004): 1) Measures to assure food security or keeping
threshold levels of food production, 2) measures for efficient and sustainable use of
irrigation water, and 3) measures to preserve paddy field ecosystems soundly. The
total grain production has fallen to a level that the self-sufficiency ratio of grains is30.4%. Only rice production yields 107% of the domestic needs in 2002, not because
the gross production increases greatly but because the rice consumption per capita drops
steadily. Yet, nearly 14 thousand ha of farm lands are converted to urban andindustrial zones each year. In order to keep the self-sufficiency of rice production, theagricultural development projects are justified, which include the rural water resources
development, tidal land reclamation, redevelopment of arable lands, and drainage
improvement.
MAF has prioritized highly the efficient and sustainable use of irrigation water
resources. On-going efforts include: 1) Repair and reinforcement of existing irrigation
dams and canals which have been aged and deteriorated, 2) networking of water
resources for trans-boundary water allocation, 3) automation of water management, 4)
installing telemetering and teleccontrol (TM/TC) instrumentation systems for water
resources operation and management, and 5) management of irrigation water quality.
They aim to more efficient use of water, or to improve water quality, while maintaining
the high levels of agricultural production.
Figure 6 TM/TC control center
The Sustainable Agriculture Promotion Act was established in 1997, which provides
a sound ground for environmentally friendly farming. It promotes cultural practices

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for minimal chemical fertilizer and pesticide applications. The agricultural products
from such farming practices have been well received by consumers who are willing to
pay more for the high quality foods.
Case Studies
The Sangju Integrated Central Water Management System which was completed in1998 may present a successful application of TM/TC systems to improve irrigation
efficiency and to save water for domestic use (MAF, 2004). The Sangju-dam has thestorage capacity of 40 million m3, and provides irrigation water to 35.3 km2 of paddy
fields and also supplies domestic water of 8,800 m3 per day. After water diversion
schemes were optimized to yield a better allocation, the saved water is being used for
expanded paddy fields nearby while enhancing the reliability of domestic water supply.
A case study to improve the water quality of an irrigation reservoir having the storage
capacity of 1.7 million m3 has been implemented since 2001. A sedimentation pond
and artificial wetland systems were installed and operated, with a favorable result thatthe average COD was reduced from 12.5 mg/L to 8.5 mg/L. More projects are being
planned to improve irrigation water quality at heavily eutrophicated reservoirs. For
further information about case studies related to sustainable agriculture, MAF (2004)
should be referred.
Wastewater Reuse for Irrigation
Wastewater reuse is defined to be the beneficial use of the treated water. Reclaimed
wastewater from domestic sewer treatment plants has been used in many countries. It
has not been practiced in Korea, since rice farmers prefer ‘good water’. The author
has worked on the wastewater reuse for paddy irrigation during the past five years.
Effluent from the Suwon municipal sewer treatment plant is reclaimed through filtrationand disinfection systems and used for irrigating rice and vegetable crops. The results
showed that rice yields increase 25% more than the control plots which were irrigatedwith groundwater. Other advantages using reclaimed wastewater for paddy irrigation
include: 1) Wastewater reuse eases new irrigation water resources development sinceeffluent from sewer treatment plants is nearly 7.5 billion m3 a year, 2) crop yield
increases with little side effects on crop growth, 3) it helps save fertilizer application
rates by a half, 4) it reduces the pollutant loads by at least two-thirds because of the14

natural purification effects at paddies; 5) it does not significantly adversely affect soil
and water environments; and 6) it is one of better practices to help sustainable water use
for irrigation.
Figure 7 A test plot for wastewater reuse
MAF and MOE have promoted wastewater reuse projects (Park, 2005). Three pilot
projects are now being planned for wastewater reuse. One of the pilot projects is now
implemented for the paddy fields of 85 ha adjacent to the Suwon sewer treatment plant
as shown in Figure 7. We have surveyed that the maximum amount of feasible
wastewater reuse for paddy irrigation is over 150 million m3 a year. We will publish
technical references on wastewater reuse for paddy irrigation, and offer training to water
managers.

ROLES OF AGRO-ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Forty-three universities (20 national and 23 private universities) establish the collegesof agriculture, agro-business, or related disciplines in Korea. In 2004, the total numberof students enrolling at agricultural colleges is 11,386, or 0.62% of the total. Amongthem, less than 1% of the graduates have worked as farmers since 1994. In 2004, 596
graduates or 0.5% have begun their careers as farmers. A recent survey on the
educational background of farmers showed 4.8 % of them have earned college degrees(Lee and Na, 2005). This trend may continue for some times as the contribution ofagricultural production to the national gross domestic product (GDP) decreases to lessthan 5%.
A recent study showed, however, that GDP from new-defined agro-business sectors
are actually 1.7 times more than that of all manufacturing sectors (Lee and Na, 2005).
It was assumed that the agro-business is not only the traditional agricultural production
business, but includes the related industrial and service business associated with foodproduction, processing, and services. Lee and Na (2005) cited an early reference inwhich total number of employees in fields of the agro-business was approximately 25%of all employees in manufacturing business in 2000, and that the future job
opportunities would be increased. It does not seem to clear, however, what roles ofagricultural college education should play on the whole agro-business.

15

Continuing debates have been brought up whether the present roles of educational
programs of agricultural colleges are appropriate and effective (Lee and Na, 2005).
Some experts challenged that the majority of college education programs failed toprovide with practical knowledge and training for potential job opportunities. Morechallenges of the same kinds may follow as more college graduates remain to be notpermanently employed for a longer period. However, drastic reforms in the
educational programs and curricula have not yet been observed.
Agro-environment disciplines have been a major concentration of educational
programs which many national colleges have put more emphasis on. For instance,
Seoul National University established the National Institute Center for Environmental
Management (NICEM) in 1992, which has become a leading institute in areas ofagricultural environment. The success of NICEM may be able to show that agroenvironmental disciplines have a bright future as has been observed in many developed
countries.
Accredited educational programs in agricultural water engineering and sciences areimportant to the capacity buildings for future engineers and scientists for the sustainable
water resources development and management. The sustainable water utilization
requires multi-disciplinary backgrounds, many of which may not be satisfied bytraditional undergraduate and graduate programs. New curricula in environmental
sciences and ecology need to be added to the programs. It is also important to establish
an accreditation program for qualified engineers such as internationally received
registration for professional engineers.
Like in many engineering disciplines, research and development programs areimportant to the technical advancement in sustainable water utilization. It is believedthat multi-disciplinary research and development (R&D) programs produce a fruitfulachievement for sustainable water use. For instance, the integrated irrigation
management systems based on TM/TC technology has been developed at a university,and is now a national project. Projects on the wastewater reuse for agriculture are now
being implemented as the pilot projects by MAF and MOE as discussed in a previous
section. Other examples include the multi-functionality of rice culture which
contributes to the justifications of the environmentally friendly agriculture promotion.
It is suggested that continuing R&D efforts be needed to promote the advancement of16

our understandings and the improvement of technologies for sustainable water
utilization in Korea and beyond.
CONCLUSIONSThe sustainable utilization of water resources for agriculture is important to Korea
which has to keep up with the continuing economic prosperity in harmony with natural
ecosystems. More than one-third of the renewable water resource is now being used,
and yet more is needed to satisfy the future water demands. The more water is used,
the more adversely affected are the hydrologic cycle, the water quality of rivers andlakes, and the ecosystems. The over-exploitation of water resources for the present use
may significantly impact on future generations to come. Thus, it is a right course ofactions to take measures to control water demands, to use water more efficiently, and todevelop alternative water resources like wastewater reuse. Some of case studies have
proven that such actions contribute to water saving and more efficient water use for
agriculture.
Wastewater reuse for irrigation may be an important step to normalize the naturalhydrologic cycles and to offset the over-exploitation of freshwater from streams andrivers. It also helps improve the water quality. A well-planned reuse would minimize
significantly adverse effects on crop growth, environments, and most of all humanhealth hazards.
Flood control is also an important issue to the sustainable development of agriculture.
Flood damages have been increased recently in Korea, and agricultural lands are mostvulnerable. Basin-wide integrated flood control plans are being established tominimize damages from heavy storms. Continuing farmland drainage improvement
projects need to be implemented sooner and more extensively.
Other aspects of the sustainable water use are to improve water quality and topreserve agricultural ecosystems. The water quality of irrigation reservoirs and estuarydams has been a major concern, because of the high degrees of eutrophication resulting
from improperly treated domestic and animal wastes. More attention should be given
to maintain the water quality of rivers and lakes to be intact. Though some water
quality improvement projects for irrigation reservoirs have been successful, a better wayof improving the water quality is to control and reduce pollutant loads at the sites or17nearby where they are being generated.
helped preserving agro-ecosystems.

Environmentally friendly farming has also

Agricultural colleges are facing a serious challenge toward the roles for their future
programs as the contributions of agriculture to the nation economy are decreasing
drastically in a rather short period of time. And a recent reform in a college toemphasize the educational programs on biotechnology and agro-environment has been
proven to be a success. Accredited curricula development appears to be needed forcollege programs. And interdisciplinary approaches to the research and development
are important to the sustainable development in agriculture.

REFERENCES
Im, S. J., S. W. Park, and C. E. Park, 2000. Modeling irrigation return flow on small
agricultural watershed. 2000 ASAE Annual International Meeting, Paper No. 2128.
Korea Water Resources Corporation (KOWACO), 2004. Korea and Dams. Korea
National Committee on Large Dams. Seoul, Korea
Lee, M. H. and S. I. Na, 2005. Strategies of Human Resources education for agrobusiness development. In the 2005 Agricultural Sciences Symposium. The Deans
Association of the Korean agricultural colleges. pp. 3~47.
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Korea (MAF), 1999. The integrated agriculturaland rural water development and management plan. Seoul, Korea (in Korean).
MAF, 2002. Statistics of agriculture and forestry. MAF 11-1380000-000777-10. 474p.
MAF and KARICO, 2001. Yearbook of agricultural land and water development
statistics, Seoul, Korea, 679p.
MAF, 2004. ‘Korean agriculture and rural water management, by Park, H. M.,
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 40p.
MAF and KARICO, 2002. Evolution and cultural heritages of the Korean Irrigation
Facilities. KARICO (Pub), Gyunggi-do, Korea. 1403p. (in Korean)

18

Ministry of Construction and Transportation (MOCT), 2000. Water vision 2020. 697p.
Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), 2003. The water amangement yearbook 2003.
OPC 11-1090023-000001-10. 400p.
Park, S. W., 2002. Strategies for efficient management of agricultural water resources.
2002 Korean Agricultural Sciences Symposium. pp. 346~368.
Park, S. W., 2004a. Application for wastewater reclamation and reuse. The 21stCentury Frontier R&D Program, Sustainable Water Resources Research Center 4-5-1,
Seoul National University (Pub), Seoul, Korea. 223p.
Park, S. W., 2004b. Water resources supplies and efficient utilization forbioproduction and the role of agro-environmental education in Korea. In the 2004
TSAE on Present situation on the water resources supply and efficient utilization for thehuman survival and bioproduction, and the role of agro-environmental education.
Agricultural and Forestry Research Center, University of Tsukuba. ISSN 0919/2778. p.
51~63.
Park, S. W. (ed.), 2005. Proceedings of the 2005 International Symposium on Water
Quality Standards and Guidelines for Wastewater Reuse. Seoul National University,
Seoul, Korea. 144p.
World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), 1987. Our common
future. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

19Figure 1 Variations of annual precipitation

300

Pre cip itatio n, m m

250
200
150
100
50
0
J

F

M

A

M

J J
Month

A

S

O

N

D

Figure 2 Monthly mean precipitation20

Total water resources: 127.6 (100%)

River runoff: 73.1 (57%)

Runoff on flood time49.3 (39%)

Losses tothe sea
40.0Stored in
dams
13.3

Evapo-transpiration: 54.5 (43%)

Runoff on dry season
23.8 (18%)

River water
use
16.1

Total use
33.1
(26%)

Ground wateruse
3.7

Domestic use 7.3 (22%)
Industrial use 2.9 (9%)
Agricultural use 15.8 (48%)
In-stream use 7.1 (12%)

Figure 3 Annual water supply and uses as of 1998 (numbers above are in billion m3)

21

Figure 4 A conceptual view of basin-scaled flood control

Figure 5 An irrigation reservoir

22

Figure 6 TM/TC control center

Figure 7 A test plot for wastewater reuse23